Port St. Lucy – Through two outings, Clay Holmes' starter-to-starter transition was almost perfect.
He pitched three innings in a Mets' 5-0 Grapefruitreeg victory over the Astros on Thursday, giving up one hit with two strikeouts and one walk.
He increased his workload and threw 42 pitches, but threw 34 pitches in the first start.
He then threw a 17-18 pitch into the bullpen.
Holmes pitched six innings and gave up one hit and one walk this spring with two strikeouts.
“I feel like I was in the perfect place to continue pitching,” Holmes said. “Even after I finished there, I felt much better than when I finished in the bullpen. I can see that I continue to adapt to my workload. It feels like things are heading in the right direction.”
Thursday's show was also a key step in the process.
His 42 pitch included 20 innings in the first innings.
Approaching, Holmes came back after the innings and threw many pitches.
As a starter, it will be necessary.
And Holmes then recorded a 1-2-3 second inning after a heavy inning, retiring six of the next seven Astros batters.
He reached 95 mph in three innings, but admitted he still thinks when he doesn't pitch the hardest to save himself for the subsequent innings.
“It's a very game-like situation and I have a long first inning, throw [20] We got 60 pitches to get the pitch and five innings,” Holmes said. “And you just feel that's new in your body. It's definitely a good thing to experience, feeling and feeling that you have to tax that inning and doing it over and over again.”
Brandon Sprout, the Mets' top pitching prospect, will begin his game against the Nationals on Friday.
This spring will be his first outing.
The Mets signed Jose Urenya as a potential invitation of potential spinning depth, reported John Heyman of the Post.
Urenya was with the Rangers last year and scored an ERA of 3.80.
He spent the first six years of his career with the Marlins before stints with the Tigers, Brewers, Rockies and White Sox. He was previously a main starter, but last year he was used as a rescuer.
Griffin Canning is an option to score a spot in the rotation due to injury to Sean Mania and Frankie Montas, making his first outing of the spring and pitching a scoreless inning of 1²/₃ on two strikeouts.
Brett Batty hit his second home run in the spring on Thursday, 11-6 at the plate.
